Irrigation design is a uniquely demanding and precise science. A software that can accommodate this rigorous engineering process isn’t just helpful – it’s imperative. Simplify your process for even the most complex designs using Irrigation F/X – a comprehensive irrigation design plugin for AutoCAD.

Irrigation F/X can handle the most exacting standards and complex designs.

Create a schematic layout to plan your system before placing a single head. Specify equipment and add pressure and flow data, all from a dialog box in AutoCAD. Lay out and size your lateral and mainline pipe faster than ever. Check for errors and ensure uniform coverage by barely lifting a finger. Rest easy that everything will be accurate. Generate instant schedules and reports, and send them to spreadsheets. Multiple pumps, sources, or elevation changes? No problem.

Calculations are automatic and based on the Hazen-Williams Formula.

You provide the layout – we’ll handle the rest.

See our latest client-inspired features in action.

We’re constantly evolving our irrigation system design software based on feedback from our clients. It’s how we continue to give you the tools you need to work faster and more efficiently. Each week, we produce a short Power Tip video (about 2 minutes in length, on average) showcasing our latest user–requested features.

Piping & pipe sizing.

Draw mainline and lateral pipe, and size it automatically with a click.
It’s just one of many ways we help you save time and ensure complete accuracy.

Piping Lateral Lines:

Welcome to worry-free piping

If you’re currently doing irrigation design by hand – or even in AutoCAD but without our irrigation plugin – you’re essentially freehand drawing your design with no assurance of accuracy. Then there’s the sheer tedium: checking the friction loss charts and performing calculations manually for each length of pipe. Applied to hundreds of heads, that means hundreds of headaches.

Even if you’re a whiz at the Hazen-Williams formula, you’re literally wasting hundreds or even thousands of hours applying all the data to your design, adding up all the flows and calculating friction losses. Guesstimation is inevitable, leading to overdesigned or underdesigned systems.

Our piping system has all the formulas, calculations, and measurements built in. Draw your pipe from head to head. Calculate the flow totals automatically. Then click a button to perform Hazen-Williams. Your system is sized accurately, just like that. With all the time you’ve saved, you’re free to do all the manual calculations you want – you just won’t have to.

Pipe mainlines with ease:

Spec Your pipe

Select a pipe class for your part of the world. Specify your lateral and mainline pipe categories from a dialog box in AutoCAD. You have complete control over stats like maximum flow velocity, pressure variation factor, and minimum pipe size. All data for your laterals and mainline will be automatically built into the pipe as your draw it.

Draw your pipe

Click a button, and draw a line to draw your pipe. Our piping tools are designed to “grab onto” heads, valves, and other irrigation equipment you’ve placed in your drawing.

Size your pipe

Instant sizing is the coup de grâce of our piping system. Just click a button and size your mainline or laterals. Pipe size callouts are added automatically.

Check for errors

Customize to your standards.

Your design standards are unique. They don’t just set you apart from the competition – they make your drawings look great. We give you the tools to enforce and improve your standards across all your plans.

Make your mark

We understand the importance of creating designs that look like nobody else’s. That’s why we’ve made customization a central capability of our software.

Irrigation equipment symbols

Your installation includes an almost staggering number of irrigation symbols we’ve created for your use. Don’t see a symbol style you like? You’re free to use yours. Add your symbols to our library of symbol families, and place them as blocks from an AutoCAD dialog box.

Valve and pipe callouts

Call out your valves and pipes in a way that meets your standards. Our valve callouts and pipe labels are fully customizable – just open the source drawing, make your changes, and save. Or choose from a variety of default valve callout styles.

Schedules

Inventory your project equipment to your exact preferences, including as much – or as little – information as you want. Place a schedule directly in your drawings or in table format – or send it to a spreadsheet to edit to your liking.

Text styles

Layers & colors

We give you complete control over the names, colors, linetypes, and lineweights of your AutoCAD layers. You can also customize all 255 colors used by AutoCAD as index colors for plotting. Edit each color to your standards, and you’ll draw and plot exactly the way you want.

I have used F/X CAD and Irrigation F/X since November 2013. They are very great products. It takes a learning curve, but once you familiar with the software, it is very easy to work with.

Johannes Idris, PT PUTRA ANDALAN JAYA

I would estimate that it has increased our productivity in irrigation design by at least 50%, not to mention the peace of mind provided by error checking in pipe sizing, flow, and pressure.

Shannon Karlson, BMLA, Inc.

We've been using Land F/X for over 8 years now and have NEVER been disappointed. The technical support and professional team of trained staff have helped keep us happy and productive.

Steve Cook, Stantec

It allows me to be as efficient as possible in creating landscape and irrigation plans for my clients – something especially important to me when I am working on these projects at night or on the weekend.

Chad D. Weinand

Reports & schedules.

Instantly produce and customize any schedules or reports. Leave the calculations to us.

Inventory, catalog, plan, and analyze

Our one-click scheduling and reporting tools give you instant access to all the data your client or contractor might need to see.

Irrigation schedule

List all equipment you’ve used or specified in your project in an easy-to-read reference. Include, or don’t include, data such as quantity, pressure and flow rates, schematic costs, and more. List spray heads by croup or by nozzle – it’s all up to you. Schedules are automatically separated by equipment type for quick reading.

Valve schedule

Provide comprehensive information about each valve in your system, including model, size, type, friction loss, valve loss, pressure and flow statistics, and head and pipe count within each valve station.

Watering schedule

Instantly prescribe your site design’s daily watering needs by individual zone. Select which days of the week will require watering. Daily and weekly watering minutes will be calculated and listed automatically.

Runtime schedule

Our Runtime Schedule tools duplicates the basic analysis a “smart” irrigation controller would perform on your system as laid out. It’s a quick way to determine the most efficient runtime for your system according to the mainline’s capability.

Critical analysis

This valuable reporting tool provides pressure and flow statistics for your entire system. It serves two important purposes: helping you troubleshoot and correct pressure and flow issues in your system, and communicating your design requirements to your clients or contractors.

Manufacturer database.

Choose equipment from a extensive database of manufacturers, including complete performance data and pre-assigned symbols.

Spec all your equipment from within AutoCAD

We have agreements with 35 (and counting) manufacturers of irrigation components to include their equipment data in our software. That means you can spec a head, valve, drip emitter, backflow device, etc., for use in your project directly from a dialog box in AutoCAD. Select the exact make, model, and series you’re looking for. You can even add custom data such as flow ratings and nozzle types.

Direct catalog access

Connect directly to each participating manufacturer’s catalog. No more flipping through paper catalogs, digging for the exact head you need – not to mention sifting through all the myriad options available for each piece of equipment. Just a few clicks, and you’re ready to start laying your spray or drip irrigation system. Design software that makes equipment specification this easy isn’t just valuable – it’s necessary.

Take away the guesswork!

Our Schematic Irrigation tools help you visualize your plan before you lay a pipe or place a single piece of equipment.

Get estimated flow totals without placing a head

With our Schematic Irrigation tool, you can quickly sketch out your system design by creating “zones” for each type of emitter you plan to use.

Here’s how it works:

Select an emitter type

Choose from a variety of emitter categories to start building your schematic zone. We’ve front-loaded each of our schematic categories with a distinct hatch color to represent that equipment in your schematic design.

Place your zones

Draw the areas where you plan to have coverage from the emitter type you selected. The software will instantly calculate and place an estimated flow rate for each zone, based on the square footage as well as the default pressure and precip rates we’ve assigned to that emitter type. Create as many zones for as many emitter types as you think you’ll use.

Edit the schematic categories, or create new ones

Need to tweak the precip and pressure rates for a given schematic zone? No problem. Just click a button and edit it. You can even add an estimated cost per square foot or meter for each zone. Don’t see the equipment you need? Just create a new category.

Instantly catalog your schematic drawing

You can place an inventory of your schematic zones just as you would for specific equipment. Just run an Irrigation Schedule and select the option for Schematic Areas. Include as much or little information as you want.

Your Schematic Schedule will list and describe all your schematic zones in detail, with color-coded hatch symbols for each schematic category you’ve used. It’s a quick and easy way to show your design intent and make any necessary changes before you start laying out your system.

Create flawless plans.

Errors are inevitable; undetected errors are not.

Our error-checking tools will find every piping error, giving you the assurance that your plan is completely accurate.

You can’t underestimate the value of peace of mind

We won’t judge you if you don’t create a perfect design on the first try. We’ll just give you the tools to ensure it’s perfect when it counts.

Verify mainlines with ease:

Verify mainline & laterals

You won’t believe you ever got by without this one. Our Verify Mainline tool scans every valve station in your design, making sure you’ve piped, sized, and called everything out correctly. Errors are marked with a color-coded highlighting system for easy location and revision. In short, it’s a must-use.

Move piped equipment

You’ve already piped to all your heads, and now the client is asking for massive revisions. Do you have to delete it all and start over? Nope. Just open our Move Piped Equipment tool, then click and drop. All connections will remain intact (along with your sanity).

Uniformity

Test the uniformity of coverage created by your head layout. With a single click, you’ll have an easy-to-read, color-coded layout of your coverage for easy editing.

Locate Valve

Can’t find one of the 60 valves in your layout? Now you can! Just open our Locate Valve tool, select the valve number, and boom! You’re zoomed in on that valve.

Delete Station

When revisions come in, or when you need to re-pipe, you may need to delete equipment, pipe, or callouts. To retain your connections, use our Delete Station tool. You can use Delete Station to delete all pipe or all callouts in a station, or delete the entire station, including the valve.

Highlight Station

Need to verify connections or simply find a given valve in a big plan? Our Highlight Station tool instantly checks whether all your heads are connected properly to pipes and valves. With a click, you can locate an entire station in your drawing and check whether all heads in that station are piped.

Even highlighting a piece of equipment you haven’t piped yet will highlight that same equipment wherever you’ve placed it throughout the drawing and produce a quantity of that equipment in the Command line.

Highlight Station also includes a Colorize feature that renders an entire station into the color of your choice. It’s a great way to distinguish stations from each other, create an as-built controller map, or just add some color and variety to your plan.

Match Properties

Switch out a head or valve for a different model instantly while maintaining all connections. If you’ve already called out the valve you’re switching out, the callout will be updated automatically. Match Properties is a quick, easy, and foolproof way to make last-minute (or first-minute) revisions to your plan.

How easy is it to learn? Incredibly.

When you install our landscape and irrigation design software, you’re installing a set of additional AutoCAD functions designed just for you. It’s like your landscape architecture tool belt. Need a little help? We’ve got the learning resources you need. We strive to make CAD-based landscape design simple, intuitive, and fun.

Weekly 2-Minute Power Tip Videos

Users like you have made Land F/X what it is today.

Our weekly Power Tip videos showcase features or techniques that maximize efficiency and accuracy in the design process. Presented by our in-house landscape architects and irrigation designers, these brief but insightful educational tools are based directly on client requests. Here are three of our most recent Irrigation Power Tip videos:

Land F/X with Training Wheels

Just like riding a bike, learning our software might seem challenging at first – but you’ll be cruising in no time! Start with the fundamentals by watching our brief training videos. One step (roll?) at a time, we’ll guide you through the essential tools and techniques, from building your palette to placing plants, labeling, error checking, scheduling, and creating a dynamite presentation. Jump on!

Everything You Need to Know About Land F/X

Videos are great, but nothing can replace good old-fashioned reading. Our documentation section is extensive, meticulously organized, updated constantly, and completely searchable. Learn all about our software and pick up some valuable AutoCAD tips – all at your own pace.

Weekly Live Webinars

Want a more in-depth look at our software? Our weekly hourlong webinars go beneath the surface to give you full immersion into techniques and best practices for Land F/X, AutoCAD, and SketchUp. Your license gets you into the live webinar. Can’t make it? We post each of our webinars on our website, allowing you to view them whenever you have the time.

More than just calculations: AutoCAD tools.

Work from within the industry standard of AutoCAD, armed with an array of tools geared specifically to the demanding requirements of irrigation design.

Work within your familiar CAD environment

Irrigation F/X is an AutoCAD plugin. That means you won’t have to learn a whole new software platform to take advantage of our irrigation design features. We essentially open up AutoCAD and drop in a new set of tools geared toward your profession. So although you’ll have some new tools and techniques to learn, you won’t have to start over. In fact, many of our tools incorporate some native AutoCAD features, essentially transforming AutoCAD into irrigation CAD software.

Just think of it as the most helpful upgrade of your existing AutoCAD platform that you can possibly imagine.

Throw in instant scheduling, callouts, error checking, and pipe sizing – not to mention our details, planting, site amenity, and hardscape design capabilities – and you’ve got all the tools you can possibly need to design a site. And it’s all built right into your familiar CAD environment.

We don’t make AutoCAD any more complicated; we just enhance it with automatic calculations, error checking, “smart” blocks, and other tools that make your job easier, ensure accuracy, and save you inestimable amounts of time.

Explore more features of Land F/X software:

Details

Planting

SketchUp

Irrigation

F/X CAD

Cloud

Sign up now for a free trial to find out exactly why Irrigation F/X is right for you.

Our software tailors AutoCAD to the needs of landscape architects, irrigation designers, and other professionals. We automate your most tedious tasks and ensure accuracy, giving you more time to design.